Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Retirement Trip: Day 5

Middlewich to Anderton LiftWoke up to a very cold boat, having made no attempt to keep the stove lit all night. Even so, I was surprised to find a layer of frost on the roof - the first of the season!Had to make a trip to Tesco before setting off -not to buy anything you understand, it's just that my toilet needs emptying if I use it, and theirs doesn't.The frost brought clear skies and a bright sun that was obviously causing problems to boaters coming south. The flashes on this section of the Trent & Mersey rival Tixall Wide in attractiveness or surpass it if you factor in the lack of boats (at least in October)

I was reminded of a trip along here one foggy winter's day in the 1970s in a 70ft hire boat with a lookout on the front indicating directions to a relay man in the centre hatch who passed them on to the steerer, who couldn't see the bow!The Lion Salt Works, the last open pan salt works in England and the subject of a preservation project that appears to have stalled was looking very sad:

The fine weather continued all afternoon and I eventually stopped for the day at the top of the Anderton Lift, about half an hour after the visitor centre had closed, which meant that this was the only viewI could get.

I'm also getting used to this mobile internet thingy, although it's not always straightforward, is it? Tonight's post is brought to you courtesy of balancing the laptop on a stool on top of the kitchen table with the dongle hanging out of the window - the only way I could get a signal!